Reversing oil clutch



glu/vento@ 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet l J. A. MLM

REVERSING OIL CLUTCH JH.' /la/m Feb. 3. i925.

Original Filed May 31,

Feb. 3. 1925.

J. A. MALM REVERSING OIL CLUTCH Original Filed May 31, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 EEE 3mm@ u JH. /d/i.

Feb. 3. 1925. 1,525,038

J. A. MALM REVERSING OIL CLUTCH Original Filed May 31, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 V Il e!! J. A. MALM REVERSING FOIL CLUTCH Original Filed May 31. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ww. QQ hw. .s mw. A hh .QQ MN if QM. QM.. .v a Q k. .u @Q Q Q NN NQ rUN.

Patented Feb. 3, '1925.

UNITED STATES JOHN A. MALM, 0F

REVERSING DENVER, COLORADO.

OIL CLUTCH.

Application led May 31, 1921, Serial No. 474,008. Renewed April 18, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. MALM, a citizen of the United States, residing in the cit-y and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Reversing Oil Clutches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art. to which it.- appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accoinpaiiyng drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specilication.

' The object of this invention 1s to provide an oil clutch analogous in some respects to my companion application, Serial Number 474,007 which shall include mechanism for obtaining reverse as Well as forward speeds.

Briefly, the invention comprises a drive shaft adapted to be coupled wit-h an engine shaft and having reciprocably mounted thereon a piston having a cam groove adapted to be engaged by rollers mounted in a casing and cti-operating with a driven shaft. carrying a. cam block which has a cam groove receiving rollers carried bythe pro- ]ectiiig portion of the piston. This` invention also includes two reciprocable pistons connected to move together longitudinally, one piston being reciprocable on the drive shaft and the other on the driven shaft. In either case the piston on the drive shaft has `its groove provided with a greater number of nodes than are provided in the groove on the cam block or piston, as the case may be, carried by the driven shaft. Where two pistons are employed the rollers which en gage the cani groove of the piston on the driven shaft are also carried by the casing which houses the operative parts. Said casing is adapted toV rotate but means are pro` iided for preventing suoli rotation when desired. VVithin the casing a short cylinder is provided which cooperates with the piston on the drive shaft. and with a yslidable, valve which controls the passage ot' oil from one end of said piston to the other. `vAs the driving piston, i. e. the piston on the drive shaft, rotates, the piston or cam block on the driven shaft will tend to rotate in the oppo site direction due to the fact that the number of nodes in the respective cam groove i is smaller than the number of nodes in the groove on the driving piston. The amount of this reverse rotation as compared with the forward speed of the driving piston is the ratio of the excess number of nodes in the drivingT cam to the number of nodes' in the driven or reversing cam member. For instance, if the cam roove in the driving pistion contains six no es and the groove in the cam niombe'won the driven shaft contains tour nodes the reverse speed of said cam member on the driven shaft is two-fourths or one-half the forward Speed of the driving piston, because, since .the nodes on both cani grooves are all of equal lengths, movement equivalent to the two excess nodes on the driving piston must be compensated for during each rotation by reverse movement equal Vto two of the four nodes on the driven cam member. By openin and closing the valve above mentioned, t e driving piston will be allowed to reciprocate or will be held against reciprocation as desired. When the valve is open and said driving pisi ton is reciprocating, if the machine on which the device is installed is to be allowed to stand, the casing which contains the parts. must be allowed to rotate forward `at, a speed equal to the amount of reverse rotation which would otherwise be, im arted to the member on the driven s aft. .If the brake member above mentioned' is applied to the casing to prevent its forward rotation, reverse movement will then be imparted to the machine, it being understood that the valve is in open position."

When said brake member is released and it is desired to niove forward from stationverse rotation of the reversing cam member will also be entirely stopped and the parts including the casing Will rotate bodily in a forwa rd direction at the speed of the engine' shaft'y to which the drive shaft is connected. The reason for rotating the casing. forward when reverse movementl is not desired, is to permit the rollers carried by said casina' which engage in the cam grooves to rotate forwardl with the drlving plston at the same rate which the reverse cam member would .otherwise be driven in the reverse direction.

In the drawings:

Fi 1 is a longitudinal section through the c utch.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary detail view showing parts of the mechanlsm of Fig. 1 on a somewhat larger scale.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational detail of thevtwo cam members shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is alongitudinal section showing a modiied form of means for taking care of oil expansion.

Fig. '7 is a longitudinal fragmentary section showing a modified form of valve sleeve construction.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal seetion. showing a modified construction and arrangement of cam members on the drive and driven shafts.

The ydrive shaft 10 is shown provided with a ciutch 12 spined on the shaft and shiftable by means of a yoke 1a operable by a handle 15 pivoted tothe yoke at 15 and ivoted at its lower end to a link 17 carried Ey the fixed 'framework 19. The clutch 1.2 has an inner face adaptedl to engage the clutch member 16 on the engine shaft, said clutch 12 also being provided with an outer face to engage with a. fixed clutch part 18 mounted on the frame-Work 1i) which will serve as aV brake when the clutch 12 is moved rearward into engagement therewith. Thus, when all of thepartsv are in high speed position, if clutnh 12 is moved from engagement with the engine clutch 16, into engagement with the stationary clutch 187 the clutch I8 will serve as a brake for rthe machine. n The drive shaft 10 is journaled as by means of ball bearings rhown in the head 2O which, in turn, is jouinaled by means of ball bearings 21-in a fixed member such as an extension of the fixed clutch part 18. The head 2() is bolted to a rotatable shell,l or casing 22, the-latter having bolted thereto at its opposite end, a rear head 23 journaled by means of ball bearings 24 in amounting 25 which may be adjustable as indicated. it' desired, and is carried by a fixed portion ot the ramework25'. A valve sleeve 26 oxtends through tho head 23 into the casing 22 and is retained by means of a paeking ring 27 which positions packing material between the sleeve and the head 23 and also serves to retain the ball retainers for the balls 24. A driven shaft 28 extends through' the sleeve 26and is journaled therein by means oi' a bearing 29 for balls 129 which bearing has a yoke 30 connected therewith for the purpose of shifting the sleeve 26 longitudinally by means of the lever 31 which is pivoted at 32 to a link member pivoted on a standard 25 as shown. The lower end of lever 31 is connected with a link 33 which may be in the form of an integral fork as indicated in F ig. 5, or of a plurality of pieces as indicated in Fig. 3. This forked link 33 is provided, for the purpose of contracting the brake bands 34 about the casing 22 to prevent rotation thereof when desired, said bands 34 being retained in position by means of a pair of spaced annular ribs 35 of said link being disposed between the hubs y of the frame 38 and the ends of theY bands 34. The tips of the forks are of uniform thickness to avoid tightening the bands dur-A ing the part of the movement of the lever 31 which moves the valve sleeve 36 to open the valve. However, bevel faces 40 are provided on the forks in the rear of said tips for the purpose of engaging the lower ends of the bands 34, to force the same together and cause them toiind upon the oas'ng 22 to prevent rotation of the same during the final stage of the movement of the lever 31 after the valve has been opened. Thus. a fter the valve has been opened to bring the machine to stationary position, further real ward movement of tlulever 31 will cause the bands 34 to be'tightenod to stop rotation of the Casing 22 and thereby produce reverso movement of the machine. During this further movement yof lever 31 the valve is merely retracted farther without itself producing any additional efl'ect.

A reciprocating piston #i2 is mounted upon the portion of the drive shaft 1() which projects Within the casing 22, said piston being splined upon the shaft 10 by means of balls 44 held by ball retainers as disclosed in said companion application, said balls traveling iu grooves 44. lSpecial fianges or rings 45 are provided on opposite ends of the piston and have fingers extending into said grooves to prevent passage ot' oil through said grooves from ontl oud of the piston to the other and to piment pushing the balls back and forth by the oil. The piston 42 is Yprovided with a rain groove 4G having arear cam face 47 and a forward cam time 48, the latter .being higher than the former, Said cam faces lxeing engaged by a pair of rollers 50 of dilcroot. sizes. and disposed at vdilierent distances from thel center of the shaft 10 to engage the respeclli tion. the oil will circulate freely1 from one end of' the piston 42 to the other as it recipro4 cates and no operation will be imparted to the. cam block 63 and its driven shaft 2S. 'ben it is desired to have low speed forwarth the 1-- leeve v .ve 5S will be partially closed so as to retard the passage of oil a round the cylinder 50, thereby letarding the rate of rerigiroeatioii ot the piston 42. This will result in additional forward rotation ot' the casino.' at a rate in excess of the rate of rotation wht-'cb would be applied to the rain irloeli iii. which foestorwai'd rotation is nre oi' the forward movement ol' the i iien nait said sleeve valve ap il pir-t ion. said l'or'vvard speed grzimtalif` incw.;-es until the llovf el' oil if tilii'ely stopped. thi-rubi completely 'uiieclv ing the reeiprofration of piston l2 and incliing the parteA tom-ther to obtain full L-peetl foriiard.

lt is to be noted that the cam block 6? is rot v'ed relatively in a reverse direetion to .mai ot' the piston it by reason of the fact f that the rollers 66 pull or push (according to the direction of reciproeation of the piston ft2) on the walls ot' theI groove 64, this pull or Vpush beingi the relative amount of reverse rotation of the cam block 63. Stated in other words, when one of these nodes of the piston 42 travels forward on the rollers 50. this movement being one-sixth of a complete. revolution. a roller 66 musty travel completeljvv along one ot the tour nodes of the groove. 61, but each ot' the four nodes of the groove 64 represents one-fourth of a complete revolution. Therefore. the rollers 66 must bear upon the Walls of the groove 64 to Cause a reverse rotation equal to the ditterence between one-fourth of a revolution and one-sixth ot' a revolution, which is one-twelfth. Therefore, for the complete forward rotation of` the six nodes ot' the piston 12, sixdiwelfths or onehalf of one complete revolution of the cam blk 63 will have been produced.

In Fig. 6 a modified form of means is shown for taking care of expansion of the oil due to temperature changes or the like. This consists in providing the driven shaft 2S with an enlargement 91 onto which is threaded a packing ring 90 Which retains the packing material upon the extension 62 ot' the cam bloelt 63. The shaft 28 is bored out and receives a stem 92 which carries packing material 93 retained on said stein between a nut 94 and a shoulder 95. Said stein 02, is provided with a centering pin ill; which enters a spring 9T disposed in the bore. ot' said shaft. 2S. the opposite end of said spring being received by a pin 99 whose head S bears against an adjusting stery 100 threaded into the shaft 28 and secured in adjusted position by means of a lock nut 101. This form also shows a. slightly modified form of ball retainer 229 and yoke mounting 230.

In Fig. T a moditied form of valve construction is disclosed. In this modification the casing 22 is provided with an internal annular rib 102 against which a packing material 10i is retained by means of a collar 102i threaded into said casing 22. The hub 59 ol the valve sleeve 59 is offset slightly to provide` between the sleeve b' and the head Qi. an annular air cavity 105 having connnunication with the atmosphere by means ot' vents 106. ln this` form the head 23 is threaded into the casing 22. The hub 5S) and assoeiated parts are provided with one or more passages 85 for the movement oi oil from the rear of the hub 59 to the front thereof when the valve is rcciprocated as in the other forni. and packing material T is retained on said hub by means of a. collar 10S. for the purpose of preventing leakage of oil into said cavity 105, said collar 10S being .secured by means of screws 100 or the like which also retain the ball retaineis 61. In this form the annular offset ot' the hub 59 is equal to the thicknessof the valve stem 26 so that the volume of the displacement by said offset of the hub 59, which is represented by said chamber 105, is equal to the displacement of the valve stem or sleeve 26 when the valve is operated. I

This construction also maintains uniform volume within the device.

Fig. 7 also shows a. further modified form of ball retainer 329 which consists simply of a retaining nut threaded into sleeve 26, for engagement with the balls.

In Fig. 8 a modified form of the reversing cam member is shown. In this case the extension 62 which is secured to the driven shaft 28 itself has the inner end of the drive shaft 10 liournaled therein. This journaling is accomplished by means of a ball retainer 160 threaded into the inner end of the extension 62 to retain bulls 161 on the shaft 10, a second ball retainer being threaded onto said shaft 10 to engage the opposite sides of the balls 161. The balls 73 at the extreme inner end of said shaft are retained by retaining devices T2 one of which also is threaded on shaft 10 and the other retained by means of nut T4. In this form the reversing cam member is separate from the extension 62 and reciprocates thereon. This cani member 163 is provided with a cam groove 164 and preferably has a. low cam wall 165 and a higher cam wall 166 adapted to be engaged by a pair of rollers 150 ot different sizes. one of which is dis posed farther inward to engage the lower cam wall 165, after the fashion of the rollers 50 and earn Walls 4T and 48. These rol1 ers are secured to the casing 22 by means of a sleeve 53 and a Stem 52 in the same manner in which the rollers 50 are secured. In

this particular figure the nuts 54 which are used in the form of Fig. 1, are substituted by nuts or blocks 154 which are secured in place by means of machine screws 156, the adjustment of the parts being determined by means of shims asindicated.

The reciprocating cam member 163 is splined on the extension 62 by means of balls 167 traveling in grooves in the ettension 62 and in the member 163. A special lian 168 similar to flange of Fig. l is em) oyed to retain the balls in the grooves an to prevent the passage of oil through the grooves, and the consequent displacement of the balls thereby. this flange being Secured to the cam member 163. In order to prevent displacement of the balls 167 at the extreme inner end of the extension 62 a similar` retaining flange 169 is provided 'which is integral with the ball retainer 160.

In this form the cam member 163 is in the form of a piston which reciprocates within rthe short cylinder 56, the valve 58 being provided as in the other form: the piston 42 which reciprocates on shaft 10 as in the form of Fig. 1, is connected with the piston 163 by means of a bearing which comprises a retainer 17() secured to an extension on the piston 42. -a retainer 171 secured to au extension on the piston 163. and a series of balls retained by said retainers 176 and y171 and connecting the two pistons 42 and 163 so that they will move together longitudinally but can rotate upon one another in opposite directions.

In the. operation of this form the manipulation of the valve 58 is the same as in the other form. with the exception that the piston 163 is the controlling piston. When the valve 58 is closed reciprocation of both pistons is prevented and the pistons are locked so as to rotate bodilv forward with' the easing 22. However. when the valve 58y is entirely or partiallv open the diterential of movement of the two pistons will besimilar t0 that of the members 42 and 63 of Fig. l. In this modified construct-ion the piston 42 still retains the camI `frroove 56 with its six nodes while the pistonl63 has a cam groove with four nodes similar to the groove 64 of Fig. 1. The two sets of rollers and 150 cause the, two pistons 42 and 163 to reciprocate together. but the dili'erence in the number of nodes in the two grooves will produce or tend to produca reverse rotation of piston 163 relative to piston 42 in exactlv the same manner in which the cam block 63 of Fig. 1 rotates with reference to piston 42.

In both forms. the adjustable bearing 25 is used which is in the nature of a universal ioint so as to compensate for possible errors in alinement of the bearings 21 and 24.

In order to compensate for wear of the band 34 and ofthe bevel faces 40 of the voke 33, the baud 34 is conveniently made in two parts connected by an adjusting bolt and nut 37 opposite bolt 37, a spring 36 bein used to maintain the upper ends of sai parts in separated relation.

In the operation of the resilient diaphragm 80, this will yield under excessive pressure at which time some leakage will occur at packing retainer 8l. Centrifuga-l force during the rotation of the parts will throw this leakage outward to the apertures in the diaphragm. the accumulation of the oil adjacent said apertures being insured by the tapering wall of the head 20. As a result the bulk ot the leakage oil will Work its way past the valves 83 into the piston chamber. this return being assisted by the partial vacuum or suction produced by the piston as it moves away from said diaphragrm. Oil which might eventually work its Wa;Y beyond the hub 62 and past the bearings of the shaft 10 into clutch part 18 will be allowed to drain therefrom by Way of, a hole 18 in the bottom thereof so asI to avoid interference with the braking action between the parts l2 and 19. In the operafion of the Form of expansion device of Fig. 6. the piston will be moved against the tension oi the spring 97 to equalize the ex cess pressure. the tension of the spring be.- inrr adiustable by means of the, stem 100.

I claim';

l. In an oil clutch. a rotarv easing, a pair of shafts extending into said casing. a cam member reciproeable upon one shaft. a cam member non-rotatably mountedon the other shaft. cach ram member l'mving..T a cam groove therein. one of said `grooves havingr more nodes than the other. rollers carried by said rcciproiivating cam member and extending into said groove in the other cam member and other rollers adapted to be fixedly positioned and extending into the groove of the other cam member.

2. In an oil clutch. a rotarv casing, a pair of shafts extendingr into said casina. a cam member reciprpcable. upon one shaft, a cam member non-rotatably mounted on the other shaft. each cam 'member having a cam groove therein. one. of said grooves having more nodes than the other. rollers carried by said rcciprorating cam member and eX- tendingr into said .groove in the other cam member and other rollers adapted to be fixedly positioned and extending into the groove of the other cam member. a cylinder in which the rst member reciprocates. and a valve to control Vthe passage of oil from one end of said first member to the other.

3. In au oil clutch. a rotary casing, a pair of shafts extending into said casing. a cam member reciprocable upon one shaft, a cam member non-rotatably mounted on the other shaft, each cam member having a cam groove therein, one of said grooves having more nodes than ihn other, rollers extend mg mt@ sa 1d grooves t@ deternnnw.: the reluton of one cam mami/mx* t@ i' q; minar l ,i the rotatlon thereof, und b1 man; 11a to engage and prevent rntaxtnnx f fh wml. 4, In an oil Clutch. n re-ny Y, of shafts vxtonnlng into A. rnernow recipmcablv npwn um imm n :wi member non-wtumbly vmwwee fn: Shaft, each cam nwlnm havin@ groove wx'vin, mw of more nodes gthan the otlxff. umm exm' into Sad 'Yloows to dnimsnim, Iw, wnlvn tation Hierauf, n aylndm' in which tho {i1-st member lnclprmntes, :.1 R: fv tu unimi ihn passage of on fwn, @no vnd mi sind w member to the othm'kl .nml winning.; :nenn-1. m prevent rotnicfn m in@ AAwing whc said cam members mmh.

5. In an 0i] duvn MSI from om to thv 04M:

nomma 1g 251th ceasing,

ry mung. z:

rg n plurality of nodes, Whfzrby the*r cam will lle mused to rvmpmcatm as 1t rotates Plntlvv to the eaqmgz, n. @am non-mmhly nnn-sldably mounted nn thv` other Slaaf?. ,Quid (mms having means m prmluoe wlfltw rotary muvvment when thc llrst fam rmfiprm'rltes. snfl means mmpSirg; n a, @n om mm member fm-l n. eoflpvtfvelfvf ln if JOHN A. MA LM. 

